Soulless Pyromancy
by Toyo Miko
Summary: She had no flame within her, only a void where her soul should be. Yet she was among the living. Said to be without talent or skill. Yet able to see her where most can't. This 'Louise' was fascinating to a witch such as herself. It would be most interesting to teach one such as her.


Oh?

Before her was a rather unusual sight. An array of school children with a assortment of animals and a single teacher.

And now that she looked around…

There was healthy green grass, bright blue sky and the faint humming of song birds.

Hmm… something told her that she wasn't in Blighttown anymore. Perhaps it was the lack of brown and grey. They were rather dull colors to look at.

"Ha! Of course the Zero couldn't summon a familiar!" she heard a child call out from amidst the crowd.

"What are you talking about? She's right there?" the one with pink hair shouted back.

Hmm… so that pink one could see her? Well that pointed hand seems to indicate so.

She blinked. That was… impossible? There was no flame within the girl, no soul. Just a void of empty space. Most odd. This one would be interesting to watch over.

"There's nothing there Zero!" another jeer.

"Is Louise going crazy now?" and yet another call. Crazy would hardly even quantify as an insult.

But she had at least learnt something. Her name was Louise was it? Not the name she would have chosen. But then she wasn't a mother, was she.

"She is there!" Louise shouted back before angrily striding up to her.

"You!" Louise didn't start with pleasantries or even introduce herself; rather rude, she would say. "Say something!"

"Hello." she raised up a hand in greeting. "I am…"

"See!" Louise cut her off, her hand wagging right in front of her face this time.

"I see noth-"

"Quiet Ms Montmorency." the teacher finally spoke. Hmm… the bald one seemed rather gifted. She could feel the power of his flame as it moved around in a endless coil.

"Mr Colbert?" Louise seemed surprised as her teacher walked past her.

"Are you… real?" This Mr Colbert asked her. Ohoh, two with enough gift to see her.

"Indeed. I should not be surprised one so gifted can see me." she replied.

Now the crowd had dissolved into whispering. She paid their whispers no heed. They could not see her and likely wouldn't be worth the effort.

"You can see her as well, Mr Colbert?" Louise seemed even more surprised now. She seemed rather easy to surprise.

"Yes…" he offhandedly answered. He then looked back to her. "What do you mean you're not surprised I can see you?"

"I mean just that. Usually only the gifted can see me. I can sense the power of your flame; almost like Salaman's when he first came to me." she told him. "But I don't think you're here seeking my pyromancy."

"Pyromancy?" Louise repeated the word like she didn't know it.

"Yes." she turned towards Louise. "It is you who called upon me, no?"

"Ah… yes?" Now she seemed confused. What for? It was a simple question after all.

"Do you seek my pyromancy then?" she asked Louise.

"And what is this pyromancy exactly?" Mr Colbert asked before Louise could reply. A rather odd question. But since he seemed a respectable man and didn't seem to be one to ask pointless question, she decided to humor him.

"The manipulation of fire of course." she said. To emphasize her point, she breathed life into her flames and formed a small fiery swallow in her hands. "Go on."

As if it was an actual living creature, the small chick gingerly tested the edge of her hand before leaping off. Flapping its wings, she allowed it to soar all the way across the wall before letting the flame dissipate.

"How did you…? Louise started to say before fear suddenly seeped into her eyes.

Mr Colbert was similar in his reaction, his expression was more guarded and his hand tightening its grip on his staff. "Wandless magic…"

"Yes. Wandless. I have long advanced past the need for that." she told him.

Hmm… was this somewhere in the past? The flow of time was distorted beyond recognition in Lordran. Had she perhaps been shunted to a time before the Bed of Chaos?

It would explain their seemingly lack of knowledge on the subject of pyromancy and all these questions on what should be basic knowledge.

"I see…" Mr Colbert warily said. "Ah...Could you remove your hood?"

"An odd request." she commented. Her hood was something she kept on at all times. It would feel… rather offsetting to take it off.

"But a necessary one." was the curt reply she received.

Shrugging, she did as he asked and pulled her hood back, her messy brown hair coming out and revealing her face to the sun. A cold shiver went down her spine as raw wind met her burned skin.

A gasp.

"Y...your face…" she heard Louise stutter out. Whether it was in revulsion or pity she could hardly tell. Reading people was not something she was ever good at. Pyromancers were not very social beings; especially so for her.

"Yes." she brought her hand up to her face where all the old burn marks were. Hardly a speck of her face was left unmarked by the flames of chaos. It was barely anything compared to the agony the rest of her family must have suffered. "A reminder of my cowardice."

"But my past is none of your concern." she stated. Taking turns to look at both of them, she asked. "Have you satisfied your curiosity?"

"Ah, yes. You can put it back on if you want." Mr Colbert told her awkwardly.

"Thank you." she said as she pulled her hood back on. Both of them were still staring at her for some reason. Were they trying to gleam another look at her face? "Well this has been my second most odd encounter I've had."

The first would be meeting herself in Blighttown. She blamed all the distortions in time within Lordran. Still, it had been a very refreshing discussion. It wasn't often you had a chance to talk to yourself.

"Yes… this has been a rather weird meeting." Mr Colbert said, agreeing to her sentiment. "You said something about seeking your pyromancy?"

"Yes. That's what most seek me for." she told them yet again. "Louise, was it?"

"Yes!" the person in question seemed to snap to attention and stopped trying to stare past her hood.

"You are very interesting." she told her. And that was a genuine statement. It was impossible for a living being to not have a flame. That would mean she would have no souls and only the permanently dead truly have no souls. Louise looked far from dead.

"I am?" An excited light formed in her eyes at her words.

"Yes. Your teacher has a powerful flame and..." She looked over to the rest of the students who all seemed to be bored beyond belief and was busy doing their own things. Of them all, only that red one stood out to her. "Most of your class's flames there are meager at best."

"They are?" Louise turned to look at them as well, as if she could sense the flame like she could.

"Don't do that." she chided. Repeating her statements as questions lost its charm after the first time. "But you seem to have no flame at all."

The dying of the light in her eye was noticeable, her shoulders slinking down as she became crestfallen.

"Ah, don't feel down. This is something I have never encountered before." she said to reassure the girl. By the Flame but she was quick to change moods. "I believe teaching you would be a most engaging experience."

Pyromancy demanded sacrifice for its power. It would be most fascinating to see if one without an apparent soul could learn the arts of pyromancy.

And if not… well she would find a way. She had raised the girl's hopes up and it would be most disappointing to tear it all down. No need to add to the list of sins she had. And besides, she was not known as the Mother of Pyromancy for nothing.

"Teaching… me?" Louise softly murmured.

"If your teacher allows." she looked up at Mr Colbert who seemed to be deep in thought.

"Ah, if Ms Valliere can keep up with her classes while doing so then I see no problem." he admitted with a small smile. "Ah… would it be possible if I could observe these lessons myself. I'd be lying if I say I wasn't interested."

"Of course." she said. Having two pupils would be something she had never done before. Usually because most die descending Blightown. The upper levels are quite a horrible place to be in.

"So, Louise was it? Are you interested in learning the arts of pyromancy?"

"Can… I use it?"

"Perhaps?" she admitted, whether she could cast it was not truly known to her just yet. "But even if not, then I will find a way for you to use it. A challenge to myself, if you will."

"Ah!" Colbert let out. "My apologies but we don't have your name."

"Yes, of course. Louise had cut me off before." girl in question blushed slightly. Bowing her head slightly, she introduced herself. "I am Quelaana of Izalith. A pleasure to meet you."

* * *

><p>This is just a one shot since I haven't actually thought out a real plot after this and I'm working on something else. Its more like a plot bunny that I wanted to write down and a test for myself.<p>

Any constructive criticism would be appreciated since I want to know what kind of mistakes, in like characterization and such, I would need to fix before writing out my other idea.

Thanks.


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